The Rundown – 2.10.17

Oct 2 2017
BY
Rachel Ayeh-Datey

It’s been a busy week. So much so that you probably haven’t had the time to catch up with everything going on in the world. Fortunately, (for you), we’ve got your back. Here’s what happened this week in the worlds of Politics, Technology, Sports, Music and World alongside a few other miscellaneous bits that caught our eye.

Politics

“Decisive steps forward” have been made in the latest round of UK-EU talks, Brexit Secretary David Davis has said. Mr Davis was speaking at the end of the first talks since Theresa May’s speech in Italy last week, in which she said the UK wanted a two-year transition.

Jeremy Corbyn has said Labour now stands “on the threshold of power” because its policies are “what most people in our country actually want”. “We are now the political mainstream,” he told Labour members in his 75-minute speech at their party conference.

UKIP will unveil its new leader on Friday at its party conference in Torquay.

The decision to stop Uber operating in London was “disproportionate” and has put thousands of jobs at risk, the prime minister has told the BBC.

The taxi-hailing company has been told it will lose its private hire licence, after Transport for London cited public safety and security concerns. Uber is appealing against the decision but has apologised for its “mistakes”.

World

Campaigners in Saudi Arabia have hailed King Salman’s decree allowing women to drive for the first time. One female activist called it a “great victory”, while another said things would “never be the same again”.

Hugh Hefner, American founder of the international adult magazine Playboy, has died at the age of 91. Playboy Enterprises Inc said he passed away peacefully at home in Los Angeles, from natural causes.

Ryanair will cancel another 18,000 flights between November and March, affecting the travel plans of another 400,000 passengers. It will fly 25 fewer planes to cut the risk of further flight cancellations. A total of 34 routes will be suspended this winter, including Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Gatwick to Belfast and Newcastle to Faro.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the award-winning star of US TV comedy series Veep, has announced she has breast cancer, in a message posted on social media. “1 in 8 women get breast cancer,” she wrote. “Today I’m the one.” “The good news”, she added, was she had a “glorious group” of family and friends supporting her and “fantastic” insurance through her union.

US President Donald Trump has lifted shipping restrictions to help fuel and supplies reach storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, the White House has said. Mr Trump “has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico”, a statement said on Twitter. This came after various high profile celebrities such as Rihanna and Marc Anthony critiqued the President for not visiting or tweeting about the disaster in Puerto Rico.

The Home Office has agreed to give Scotland Yard another £154,000 to extend search for Madeleine McCann until the end of March.

The former American football star and actor OJ Simpson has been released on parole after nine years in a Nevada jail. He had been serving time for armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and 10 other charges over a 2007 confrontation at a Las Vegas hotel.

More than 20 people have been killed and 100 others wounded in a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert. A gunman opened fire at an open-air country music festival at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the city’s strip.

Technology

HSBC UK is testing a new smartphone app that will help people track what they spend money on, and will “nudge” them if they exceed their spending limits. Customers will also be able to add accounts from 21 rivals including Lloyds and NatWest, to keep track of all their balances in one app. The app will be trialled with 10,000 customers before launching in 2018.

Action camera specialist GoPro has announced its first model to take 360-degree videos and photos. The Fusion also features built-in image stabilisation, spatial audio capture and can be used underwater.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed comments made by Donald Trump that the site has always been against him. The US president accused the social network of “collusion” on Twitter, branding it “anti-Trump”.

The decision not to renew Uber’s licence to operate in London has given rival apps a boost, research suggests. In the 48 hours following the decision, Addison Lee, Gett and MyTaxi all saw a spike in downloads, according to analytics company App Annie. All saw thousands more downloads than usual, despite Uber continuing to operate in London as usual while it appeals against the licence decision.

Music

Cardi B has become the first female rapper in 19 years to reach the number 1 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100.Her song Bodak Yellow knocked Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do off the top spot. Back in 1998, Lauryn Hill made history with Doo Wop (That Thing) becoming the first female rapper to top the US charts.

Chance the Rapper premiered his new song called “First World Problems” featuring Daniel Caesar on ‘The Late Show’.

Beyoncé along with J Balvin and Willy Williams have released a remix of “Mi Gente” to raise money for relief efforts following the earthquake in Mexico and Hurricanes Maria and Irma, earlier this month.

Rita Ora will host this years MTV Europe Music Awards. The awards show is being held in London for the first time in more than 20 years.

Kendrick Lamar is officially bringing his ‘DAMN Tour’ to international shores from next February. Kicking off in Dublin, the leg with boast 15 dates across 11 countries.

Sports

Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked as manager of Bayern Munich. Following Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain, the club’s board has decided to dismiss the Italian, who replaced Pep Guardiola at the start of last season. Assistant boss Willy Sagnol will take temporary charge.

Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph and Southampton keeper Fraser Forster have been recalled for England’s final two World Cup qualifiers in October.

Liverpool have complained to Uefa about alleged racist abuse directed at winger Bobby Adekanye during Tuesday’s Uefa Youth League match at Spartak Moscow.

Fifa has been asked by the Football Association to ratify Adrien Silva’s transfer to Leicester City. The Foxes agreed to sign the Portugal Euro 2016 winner from Sporting Lisbon for £22m on 31 August, but they missed the deadline by 14 seconds.

Miscellaneous

Kylie Jenner and her rapper boyfriend, Travis Scott are allegedly pregnant with a baby girl.

Khloé Kardashian is pregnant and expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Tristan Thompson. Khloe, 33 and Tristan, 26, began dating in September 2016.

The number of looked after children adopted in England has fallen for the second year in a row, despite a rise in the number in care. There were 72,670 children in care as of March 2017, 2,220 more than the year before.

An Australian wellness blogger who falsely claimed to have cancer has been fined A$410,000 (£240,000, $322,000) for misleading her readers. Belle Gibson, 25, gained fame in Australia after she claimed to have beaten brain cancer using natural remedies and nutrition.

Racial slurs have been found scrawled on dormitory doors of five black cadets at the Air Force Academy in the US state of Colorado, officials say. The epithet, together with the words “go home”, were scrawled on message boards affixed to doors facing the hallway on Wednesday night.

Selasi, from the Great British Bake Off is opening a bakery. Selasi’s Bakes will deliver boxes of luscious floral cupcakes, all apparently hand-made. Selasi’s Bakes launches on Deliveroo this Tuesday October 3rd.